Current State of Medical Marijuana in Oklahoma

Medical Marijuana has been legalized in Oklahoma since June of last year (2018) with a 57% vote to approve the bill (State Question 788), benefiting almost 30,000 patients and 900 to 2,000 dispensaries have been licensed. According to our research, we see that there are over 400 dispensaries with active websites and open to the public in the state of Oklahoma (at the time of this article Feb 2019).

We are currently undergoing a governmental review of the aforementioned bill, which could potentially allow each individual county in Oklahoma to opt in to dispensaries being allowed to provide medical marijuana or not. If this happens, the entire scope of the industry could change in the state. In the end, counties who potentially opt out of participation in this bill may see residents moving to other counties to obtain the medication they need, as well as not reaping the taxation benefits of this booming industry.

Patients who require cannabis as medication usually will do everything in their power to obtain it to improve their quality of life, even if it means they possess their ailment “illegally.” We could be faced with residents becoming criminals and stuck with a criminal record for possessing marijuana, while it potentially being perfectly legal in the county next door.

Dispensaries

Medical Marijuana will be/is very useful as long as it is used according to its medical purposes only. Licensed patients are now legally allowed to purchase limited amounts of cannabis at legitimate and authorized dispensaries throughout Oklahoma. These patients, whom can buy, use or grow their own cannabis at home should practice diligence to abide by the law and only use or grow it for their own medical purposes and not to sell it to others for recreational purposes.

The legalization of medical marijuana will not only be beneficial to the state of Oklahoma because of the taxes from it, but most importantly to the patients who really need to use cannabis for them to have a normal life that they can’t experience when they’re having pain, seizures or forgetting some parts of their life or memory. With so many statistics, and so much data available, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deny the the fact that cannabis can help with some conditions that patients are suffering from and that our local dispensaries are helping these folks legally.

What is MMJ or Medical Marijuana?

Medical cannabis or Medical Marijuana according to Wikipedia, “is cannabis and cannabinoids that are recommended by doctors for their patients.”

“Cannabinoids – the active chemicals in medical marijuana — are similar to chemicals the body makes that are involved in appetite, memory, movement, and pain.”

It is used to treat conditions like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease, and many other various conditions.

Some medical practitioners don’t approve of the legalization of medical marijuana, so some patients are being forced to have to find a physician or a practitioner that will prescribe them the right amount or dosage of MMJ for their condition.

In closing, there is a need for the state of Oklahoma to also focus on regulating this new law further so that legal cannabis can only be used by licensed patients and not those who will just use it for them to get high.